My thoughts about stuff--leadership, worship, life, and where we're going

Wednesday, May 13, 2020

Robin and the Snake

Robin with Nest Building MaterialElkridge, MDMay 12, 2020

The wildlife around the house were engaged in unusual activity yesterday. The good news is that by the mid-afternoon my allergy medicine finally overcame the impact of the pollen on my immune system and I was able to actually spend a few hours outside. First, we discovered that some enterprising robins were building a nest in one of our hanging flower pots. It was entertaining to watch them fly into the middle of the flowers and rustle around as they placed their building materials. I even caught an image of one of the robins with nest building materials in its beak headed for the hanging flower in the image. The bird was definitely determined and was not deterred by my presence in the yard. Chris and I were able to watch the activity from the dining room window. For some unknown reason, however, by the end of the day it appeared that the birds had abandoned the project. I was a bit sad that the project was abandoned because I was planning to install a camera above the nest to capture the activity. Maybe they grew uncomfortable with our presence on the porch and in the yard as we were doing some yard work.

Portion of a Snake on the Pool House RoofElkridge, MDMay 12, 2020

The second really unusual thing that we discovered was a small snake on the roof of the pool house. Of course, we were a bit mystified at how a snake could manage to be on the roof of the pool house and I even went into the pool house attic to look for evidence of snakes. Fortunately, I did not see any signs of snakes in the attic. So, I collected my ladder and went onto the roof to remove the snake's remains and noticed that the head was missing. The missing head led me to believe that the snake was collected as a meal by a bird which left most of the body on the roof. I did not examine the snake to determine what type of snake. It did not appear to be a Common Gartersnake, but it had been baking in the sun for a while. Regardless, it was strange to see a snake on the roof--they just do not belong there.Even the wildlife are doing strange things during the coronavirus stay-at-home orders. It is a difficult time for humans and wildlife.-- Bob Doan, Elkridge, MD